Change to Yank

Im thinking of changeing my mh Bessacarr e765s 4 years old for a yank not the big ones as i do most of my w/ends in Scotland i quite fancy Four winds Chateau as it ticks all the boxes what do you guys think

You will get lots of different replies, some say 'go for it, can't beat a yank' others like myself are a bit more pragmatic and cautious ..

Having toured Scotland with a 36ft RV I found the width, not length, was the biggest problem.. mine was only 96" wide.. the Four Winds is 102" ?

This can present problems and doesn't make for a relaxed drive, even on some of the A class roads... coaches and lorries don't give way ... narrow single track roads could be difficult, so I stayed well away which greatly restricted where we went.. Access to some sites was also very tight ..

If you accept the limitations the yanks are great to live in .. and presumably you have considered the extra fuel costs .. Horses for courses ,...

Hi Bill,we have had an RV for the last 5 yrs after previously owning 2 european motorhomes and 2 caravans and i would not go back now:thumb: you get far more for your money with an RV and the smaller ones are great value for money.yes the running costs are an issue but if you but a petrol chateau with an lpg conversion it makes the mpg a lot cheaper.register on funs sister site,The RV Owners club and you will get all the questions you want to ask answered:thumb: www.rvoc.co.uk.see u on the other side Bill:thumb:
regards brian jo and josh:Cool:

may your heart always be joyful,may your song always be sung,and may you stay forever young (Bob Dylan)
Brian and Jo,rubbing along nicely

You will get lots of different replies, some say 'go for it, can't beat a yank' others like myself are a bit more pragmatic and cautious ..

Having toured Scotland with a 36ft RV I found the width, not length, was the biggest problem.. mine was only 96" wide.. the Four Winds is 102" ?

This can present problems and doesn't make for a relaxed drive, even on some of the A class roads... coaches and lorries don't give way ... narrow single track roads could be difficult, so I stayed well away which greatly restricted where we went.. Access to some sites was also very tight ..

If you accept the limitations the yanks are great to live in .. and presumably you have considered the extra fuel costs .. Horses for courses ,...

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The width was my concern and as you say fuel costs, as i have put my m/home of the road for the next 2/3 months i have time to think,thanks for your response

Hi like Jim says if you can live with the restrictions then why not especialy if you get a newer sprinter based one.If not go for one with the gas conversion that way fuel will not be so expensive For me it would be a defo no no simply based on the way we use the van / I use it to go into town etc in fact just like I use the car :thumb: so parking up and not moving around or bike/toad is no use to us.If doing that you may as well be a tugger
terry
edit sorry to repeat what BrianJoJosh has posted x over while I was typing

I've had 3 RV's and covered 100'000 miles plus in them and am a huge fan but a year ago went the other way and downsized to a 25ft European and love it.It has opened up a whole new way of m/homing and a relaxed way of travelling.

The RVs were always stressfull because you are so limited to where you can go because of the size mainly the width which is a big issue also there are fewer and fewer campsites allowing RVs on.

I'd have another RV tomorrow but it would have to be a sensible width and have a decent diesel engine with reasonable fuel economy which unfortunately does'nt exist in any RV yet. You might think you can live with 6 or 7 to the gallon but in the end I decided it would have been cheaper to use the car and stay in B&Bs so the RV had to go.

I've had 3 RV's and covered 100'000 miles plus in them and am a huge fan but a year ago went the other way and downsized to a 25ft European and love it.It has opened up a whole new way of m/homing and a relaxed way of travelling.

The RVs were always stressfull because you are so limited to where you can go because of the size mainly the width which is a big issue also there are fewer and fewer campsites allowing RVs on.

I'd have another RV tomorrow but it would have to be a sensible width and have a decent diesel engine with reasonable fuel economy which unfortunately does'nt exist in any RV yet. You might think you can live with 6 or 7 to the gallon but in the end I decided it would have been cheaper to use the car and stay in B&Bs so the RV had to go.

Good Luck:thumb:

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Regarding the issues with sites i have noticed in the last year when booking sites the first question they ask is it a RV when i ask why, they said that they dont want them due to the size As i said in my first post i do most of my touring in Gods Country so the restriction thing is a problem.I would say pound for pound the rv on build quality is far better but as you say when you factor in Fuel and Restrictions.Decisions Decisions

Not all RV's are tanks.. have a look at the link at the bottom of this page to my RV .. this I found on the internet sometime ago but as you will see it is not a monster.

It comes in at 24'9" long and has a slide out. 4 berths, massive fridge and freezer, all the usual yank bits and bobs.. this is a rear bathroom version. which is what we hunted for. I can accomadate up to 29' on my drive.. or I have to store it. So this baby and it is a baby gives me everything .. under 5.5 tons all up and with the proven Frod Trition V10 6.8 has bags of power.. I do pull a 2 ton loaded car trailer (makes me 45' long then) never know it is behind me when I pull.. OK you feel it on the breaking, but the yanks have tow/haul fitted and the engine does the slow down work.

I have managed to get on to UK sites OK and all the French one's I have visited. Yes it can be a bit worrying when you have a skip lorry pass you. the vehicle is 9'11 on the mirrors.. but being a B class I can pull them in.

We paid £28k for it and have put about another £14 on it in extra goodies including a 26' tv and a saterlite system. .. it does about 14 to the gallon at 55 mph with 1800 RPM on the taco.. not the cheapest fuel wise, but I could have had it lpg'd but the cost verse the miles I do just did not stake up. I keep my RV's about 5 years and it would mean the buyer would gain and not me, so I spent the money on the nice goodies like a 1500 watt invertor.

A full set of tyres cost about £600 as they are just overgrown 4 x 4 type and easy to get in the UK. It is maintained by a local renault dealer for servicing.. parts are easy to get from various UK based dealers.. you would die for some of the goodies yanks have made for them, we have a big book 1,000 pages of add on's.... Just about to have a fresh water filter fitted with it's own tap... Yank item imported off the shelf in the UK... my best after market item was the Airlift suspension I had fitted over here.. all remote control wireless from the cab or outside the vehile if I wish.

As I say look at the link, have a nose and remember not all yanks are tanks.

Of course I would recommended them as I own one.. but I had my first A class Dodge chassis - Champion 'Tittan' 24 years ago.. only had one UK motorhome..C class Glendale.. these days my RV has an alluminum frame and all the panels are fiberglass including the roof.

We have a fourwinds dutchman dorado RV which is 27ft 4" long, and we have been to Germany, Italy and France several times and have never had any problems with our size (if a lorry or bus can get up and down so can we). We previously have had european vans our last one being a bessacarr 760 and £ for £ we find that the RV is not all that much different to that, our RV has been converted to run on LPG which is cheaper than Petrol/diesel. We also have the added space via the slideouts and spare are easily obtained and service and advise we get from Duncan at star spangled spanner spanner is excellent.